


Revelations

by Bulletproof_love



Series: What Happens After [1]
Category: Strike Back
Genre: Bedside Hand-Holding, Bedside Vigils, Best Friends, Confessions, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Hospitalization, Hospitals, Love Confessions, M/M, Partners to Lovers, Partnership, Truth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 13:34:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16430372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bulletproof_love/pseuds/Bulletproof_love
Summary: Damien watches over his partner in the aftermath of the neurotoxin.





	Revelations

**Author's Note:**

  * For [darkmoore](https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkmoore/gifts).



> For darkmoore who introduced me to this amazing series and pairing. 
> 
> Thank you to my fab beta tobeconspicuous for all of her help.

The hospital room was bright and airy with natural light streaming through the blinds that hung in the long window across from Michael’s hospital bed. The clinical white that coated the walls was offset by a burst of orange from the daisies that Julia had dropped off earlier in the day. They were perched in a glass vase upon the window sill, the colours vibrant , full of life. 

Damien knew why she had chosen them, she wanted Michael to know that that was the way they thought of him after his brush was death. She had come close to the darkness herself more than once , she knew what it was like to feel the world slipping away, to want that.  Julia had told Damien as much after the two of them had shared a couple of drinks after Baxter’s death. 

His own bouquet of pink and white roses had been placed upon the small table at the end of Michael’s bed.

_ Roses for the English Rose, he had teased as he plonked them into the jug of water. _

_ Michael had smiled at that, the edges of his lips tipping up into a wry smile as his eyelids had begun to flutter closed. He tried to fight it, the same way he fought everything else but, in the end, sleep claimed him.   _

Damien had taken up vigil at Michael’s bedside in the uncomfortable plastic chair. His gaze came to rest upon Michael’s bare chest, watching it rise and fall as he took deep and steady breaths. The rhythmic sound of the heart monitors felt oddly reassuring. 

The colour was starting to creep back into Michael’s skin,  the faint flush of colour blossoming in his features as the hours ticked by. Back at the facility the antidote had done its job, it had neutralised the neurotoxin that ravaged Michael’s body but the long-term effects…

They didn’t know if Michael would regain the full use of his left arm again or if his lungs would recover from the damage the toxin had caused. The next few days were critical to his recovery. 

There had been a moment, back there in the facility. A moment when Damien thought he had been too late, that Michael was too far gone for the antidote to work.

The thought of a world without Michael…

Damien couldn’t bear it.

He had been in harrowing place when he had met Michael, full of hatred and self-loathing. He was used to being scorned, mistrusted but Michael had changed that. He had put his faith in Damien, shared his secrets with him and in return Damien found himself confessing things to Michael that he had never told a single soul. Their relationship was forged  in fire and blood, but it had turned into something much deeper . Something more important to Damien that he had realised until he had felt Michael slipping away. 

“Damien , ” Michael’s hoarse voice interrupted Damien’s thoughts.

Damien turned his head to see Michael’s green eyes fixated on him. 

“I’m here, buddy , ” Damien said with an impish smile. “Right where you left me.”

Michael raised his hand, his arm trembling with exertion as he reached out and cupped Damien’s cheek. His thumb smoothing over the apple of  Damien’s cheek and stroking across his stubble lined jaw. 

Damien leaned into the touch, his lips brushing across Michael’s palm.

“There was a moment you know?” Michael whispered, his eyes beginning close once more. “When I could feel myself going and I wanted it to end. Better dead than broken.” 

Damien swallowed hard against the ache in his throat. The fact that Michael had wanted to give up was like a kick in the face. It wrenched at his heart, twisting it until he could barely think. He could feel that anguish surging up inside of him, the agony at the knowledge that Michael had almost given up, that he had felt so hopeless. 

“Then I thought about you.” Michael murmured, his hand slipping down to rest on Damien’s shoulder, squeezing gently. There was a tenderness in his eyes, one that soothed over Damien’s rampant emotions. “How I’d rather be broken and alive, than leave you to face this life alone. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Yea h buddy ,” Damien said, a small smile ghosting across his lips. “I think I do.”

  
  



End file.
